Silence and Rice
by Mushmallow62
Summary: Kyuzo and Heichachi talking about different experiences.


It was dusk, and in Kanna Village the peasants were in their homes and eating whatever they could spare. The samurai were given rice, however Kyuzo; the samurai who wares a red coat, had left abruptly. And although the other six samurai were used to him not saying much, this abruptness wasn't normal. On saying that; not many of the samurai were willing to go after him to find out what was wrong, since he is a Master Swordsman, and thus ranked higher than any of them. Only two were willing to go after him.

Kanbei, the leader of the samurai and the one Kyuzo wanted to duel; and Heichachi, the wood chopper and inventor.

Heichachi went, since Kanbei needed to discuss with Gorobei and the others. Not that the Wood Chopper minded, in fact it would probably help him take his mind off things. Heichachi had walked around the rice fields to see Kyuzo near the woodland area; just staring up to the sky, watching the moon in the red and purple sky. Heichachi was careful that when he moved, it wasn't something that the blonde could take as a threat; though Kyuzo never moved his head, only his eyes in Heichachi's direction. They appeared to ask;

'Why are you here?'

"Is there... Something wrong Kyuzo-dono?" Heichachi asked and added; "You left rather quickly after eating,"

The blonde samurai continued to look at the moon; "I needed space,"

Heichachi looked at him, confused and Kyuzo saw it, but once more he answered silently:

'It's different,'

Seeing that look made Heichachi realise that Kyuzo had probably lost someone in the Great War.

"You know……. Talking can help," The Wood Chopper began, but he was shot down with a look from Kyuzo; "Oh-kay," Heichachi raised his arms up slightly; "I remember a war story my Uncle use to tell me……."

Heichachi noticed how Kyuzo glanced at him;

'And you expect me to care….. Why?'

But the Wood Chopper ignored him, and carried on with his story;

"Two men were caught by the enemy, and they were placed in a section of this old abandoned castle that this regiment used as a base. They weren't given much to eat; but their enemies didn't fair any better. A couple of nights later they were about to go to sleep, but they heard loud banging noises. The noises sounded like bombs and they saw a quick flash of light too. The two men believed that they were being attacked by the allies, and so they climbed down a near by window and once they reach the bottom were about to run for safety. Then they felt it, rain, and saw the lightening, and heard the crackling of thunder. Sheepishly, they went back to the castle, where one of the men lied; saying that the other man had fallen out of the window to get a better view of the storm. Their enemies never questioned them, just allowed them to go back to their room," Heichachi laughed slightly, and he saw Kyuzo looking at him, trying to figure out what his story had to do with anything that had been previously mentioned.

"The sad thing is that when they were realised, his friend was killed a day before the war ended. They could never talk about what happened……." Heichachi finished; "Or joked about that day.."

"War isn't a joke," Kyuzo bluntly stated.

"I know that," Heichachi said; "But if you're a prisoner of war, isn't it better to keep your sense of humour? My point is that life's too short to keep secrets,"

"You hide," Kyuzo pointed out.

"Yea,"

"And you hate traitors,"

"Yea, my reasoning is simple. I had a good friend, the best friend a guy could ask for during the war; but then someone killed him. The murderer was an ally, they killed one of their own, and they managed to escape any type of punishment, they were moved to a regiment where they were more likely to be killed. He should have died like the traitor he was," Kyuzo could blatantly hear the bitterness and hate that laced the words of Heichachi, who paused and then; "But what about you Kyuzo-dono?"

Kyuzo paused; unsure whether he should tell the Wood Chopper or not, in the end it would be a fair exchange; "Something like that," The blonde had decided; his past was not for sharing.

"Kyuzo-dono…. We all know that you have great skill with a sword, and we all know that you can kill any on of us without a second thought. But you need us to watch your back as much as we need you to watch ours," Heichachi was ready to walk away when he heard the husky voice say;

"Fine," The blonde paused; "I also trusted someone," Kyuzo didn't fully understand why he was going to tell the Wood Chopper part of his past, but he did; "They tricked me, I was captured and taken to the enemy," He stopped, refusing to say any more on the subject.

Heichachi understood now; Kyuzo kept everyone away to protect himself from betrayal. The Wood Chopper knew it must be awful to be betrayed, but to be taken as a prisoner…….. He wondered how Kyuzo managed to survive.

"What happened to your friend?"

"I killed him," The blonde stated without any emotion.

"Guess we're kinda alike, huh?" Heichachi asked the quiet samurai.

"Guess so,"

"Experiences are alike; and yet we reacted differently,"

"Heh,"

"Kyuzo-dono, you don't have to be quiet with me," Heichachi smiled; "We're friends after all,"

Kyuzo paused, thinking of his past; and what Heichachi had just said. Was it possible? For him to have a friend? Would he let himself open up just a bit to have a friend?

"I'll take that as a no….." Heichachi started to walk away, when he felt someone touch his arm. He turned to see Kyuzo, and he realised that the blonde was going to answer.

"We're…….." Kyuzo struggled to get the words out; and Heichachi smiled; "Friends," It was out; and the Wood Chopper nodded.

"Yea, friends,"


End file.
